In 1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol a very merry Christmas mash-up of Muppets and Dickens included music that expressed both heartfelt emotion and hilarity. The holiday-hued songs include “One More Sleep ’til Christmas,” “It Feels Like Christmas,” “Fozziwig’s Party,” “Thankful Heart” and “Bless Us All.”
Three songs were deleted from the film but they are included on the original soundtrack recording (available on iTunes): “When Love Is Gone,” sung by Belle (actually filmed but deleted from the movie before its release; its reprise at the film’s finale, “The Love We Found,” and the closing-credits version, sung by Martina McBride, were retained), “Chairman of the Board,” sung by Sam the Eagle as the Headmaster of young Ebenezer Scrooge’s school, and “Room in Your Heart” sung by Bunsen and Beaker. These last two musical sequences were recorded but never filmed.
No one captured that elusive balance better than past Muppet maestro Paul Williams. “Christmas has always been one of my favorite seasons,” said Paul.
“It’s Scrooge’s metamorphosis that touches me—
. . . the way he changes completely in one night.” The composer of many Muppet tunes, including “The Rainbow Connection” was invited to create a whole new set of songs to help tell the Christmas-y tale. Paul was deeply inspired by the original story by Charles Dickens about the transformation of a soul who had lost its way long ago. The composer claims that he wrote the “Scrooge” song, almost unconsciously as he focused on what he terms “the wonderful, wonderful script,” which indicated Scrooge’s entrance would only show his feet storming through the snow.
At first Williams and longtime music director Chris Caswell created an “almost Beatle-esque” sound but then Mike Goodman was enlisted to compose the underscore and augment the arrangements to give them a more traditional Christmas feel.
In working with Michael Caine as the star recorded his vocals, Paul went into the recording booth and, in what he referred to as “a miming of the intensity,” guided Michael over his headset in order to remind him of where the melody was going.
According to Paul, Michael “walked in and said, ‘I don’t know how to do this but I’ll do it anyway.’ And he did.” Paul also praised the leading frog and pig: “If anybody could make a living purely singing and just do nothing else, Piggy could. Kermit lives a very clean life, you know. And he watches his voice, he takes really good care of his voice.” (Paul also noted that both Kermit and Piggy are accomplished vocalists.)
For the holiday season of 1992, Muppet fans and moviegoers found a sparkling gift under the cinematic tree. The Muppets Christmas Carol was released on December 11, 1992. Jim Henson’s son Brian directed this seasonal treat, a Muppetational spin on the oft-told holiday “ghost story,” Charles Dickens’ immortal A Christmas Carol. Starring alongside the Muppets is Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge, who is as Disney Publicity put it, “a parsimonious old penny-pincher, who is about to get his Christmas goose cooked in fun fashion by the inimitable Muppets.”